Helping baby Ruth

When Ruth Marie Hankensiefken, who was born on June 17, was just five days old, she was diagnosed with a hole in her heart and a defective soft palate. She needs two surgeries in the very near future to correct these serious health problems.

Ruth’s young mother, Dorothy, and grandparents, Al and Rita Perry, have been through this before. In 2009 Dorothy, who is developmentally disabled, had her then-13-day-old son taken away by Butte County Children’s Services (CPS) after he was diagnosed with a cleft palate that prevented him from nursing properly.

Al, Rita and Dorothy waged a well-publicized campaign to return the baby to his biological family, but were ultimately unsuccessful. That child, now 3, was recently adopted by his foster family.

In the case of baby Ruth, Children’s Services is involved as well, Al Perry said, though in a more supportive role.

This time around Medi-Cal benefits will cover the surgeries, but funding is still needed to help cover expenses—such as food and transportation costs—related to her parents’ upcoming one-to-two-month stay in Sacramento, beginning Sept. 6, while Ruth is a patient at Sutter Medical Center. Dorothy, and Ruth’s father, Jim, who is a local pedicab driver, and Dorothy’s parents, Al and Rita Perry, are making use of the fundraising website GoFundMe.com to help raise the money.

Al Perry said Ruth’s pediatrician discovered the heart defect with a stethoscope, and an X-ray revealed the hole. A nurse at Ampla Health, he said, found the soft-palate problem while swabbing Ruth’s mouth. The defective palate interfered with the baby’s eating, and she had started to lose weight.

Ruth was referred to Sutter, where she spent a week hooked up to a feeding tube until she had gained enough weight to go home to Chico with her parents, with the help of an in-home health nurse. Ruth is now fed via a Haberman Feeder bottle, designed for babies with impaired ability to nurse.

“Before we brought [Ruth] home from Sutter, [someone] called CPS,” Perry said. “They wouldn’t tell us who called. As soon as the social worker walked in the room, the first thing out of her mouth was that she was not there to take the baby, she was there to offer services [such as an in-home health nurse].”

Jim and Dorothy and their parents are working with CPS and other officials, including the in-home nurse, Perry said, to set up a plan for when the baby comes home from the hospital.

They recently were told by CPS that if Jim and Dorothy set up respite care with an on-hand nurse to provide medications the parents are not authorized to administer, the case will be closed, said Perry.

In the meantime, Perry is reveling in the fact that he can see his beloved little granddaughter whenever he wants—Dorothy, Jim and Ruth live right next door to Perry and his wife.

“It’s a delight,” he said. “I get to go over and see her whenever I want. I go over and help with the feedings once in a while, especially on my days off [from work]. I’m thrilled. Rita is, too. She spends more time over there than at home!”